"An oasis of colour, in a sea of nudes."

Hello hello my pineapple chunks! I don't know about you but I'm an absolute foundation junkie. You might have noticed that i...

Hello hello my pineapple chunks!

I don't know about you but I'm an absolute foundation junkie. You might have noticed that i'm asian/desi & I can't tell you enough about how difficult it is to find a foundation that is close to my skin tone. It's SO infuriating! Pfft.

I've tried several foundations including Estee Lauder's Double Wear, NARS Sheer Glow, Revlon Colorstay, Korres Wild Rose, L'Oreal True Match, Bare Minerals and last but not least, MAC's Studiofix Fluid which is the one I always end up going back to.

The problem I have with foundations is that they're either too yellow, too pink, too light or too dark and it seems I'm ALWAYS getting matched to a darker shade by a 'make up artist'. I mean, if I wanted a bronzer I'd bloody ask for one!

I'm a MAC NC37 but according to one MAC 'make up artist' I was an NC44! Which is ridiculous! NC37 is my closest match. Occasionally I can go to NC40 but mostly I feel I'm inbetween those shades. Why don't MAC make an NC38 and NC39?! Huh? Why? Tell meeeeee! :@

Also with MAC I've noticed the colour of the foundation looks a bit flat. There's no depth to it. It's not warm enough. I get it. If you want warm, you need to get an NW but in my opinion the NW range is far too orange for my liking.

MAC need to bring something inbetween an NC and an NW to fill in the gaps in their range. Don't get me wrong I heart MAC, I love the texture, the formula, the longevity and how it makes my skin glow. But the colour range needs to be expanded so that people of my colour can get matched to a shade that actually suits them.

All of this frustration led me to continue my search for a foundation more suited to warm asian skin tones. I ended up stumbling across a site by Miss Bollywood, where they were selling a foundation by Glam X.

Here is what Miss Bollywood had to say about Glam-X:

"GLAM-X by Miss Bollywood is a new range of liquid foundations especially formulated for Indian, Asian and Ethnic Skin tones. The unique complex gives an exceptional flawless finish leaving skin noticeably softer, brighter and more radiant. GLAM-X is ultra smooth, lightweight, contains Vitamin E to nourish, Aloe Vera to moisturise and SPF to protect and is ideal for every day use. Choose from 6 fabulous colours for stunting results with minimum fuss which leave your skin feeling younger, brighter and more radiant!"

I thought: "Perfect!" and ordered some samples to see if any suited my skin colour. Caramel was the closest match, this was the lightest in the range. I really loved the colour and was so excited as it's the closest I've ever found to my actual skin tone, so I bought 2 full-sized bottles for £5 each (on sale, usually £15).

TONE & CONSISTENCY

Comparing Caramel to NC37 you can see that Caramel is definitely warm without being too orangey. It has the right amount of yellow tint to it without making me look like a character from 'The Simpsons'.

The consistency of the product is quite moussey, a bit thinner than Maybelline's 'Dream Matte Mousse', I applied it onto my MAC 109 brush and it just rolled off the bristles! When I applied it with the brush it didn't blend very well, after trying my hardest to blend it I ended up using my fingers which did seem to help. After blending and powdering, my skin looked fairly clear but lacked a bit of radiance.

FORMULATION& LONGEVITY

Whilst the colour is close to perfect, the formulation is not so perfect. It barely lasted a couple of hours without creasing like a bitch (even with primer on!), also it made me super-oily by lunchtime. Now with MAC studio fix i did get slightly oily by lunchtime, but this was like a BP oil spill in comparison. Another negative was that it seemed to smudge everywhere.

Despite all it's drawbacks, the fact that the foundation is very close to my skin tone it makes those drawbacks much less noticeable and much more bearable if you don't mind going to the toilet every 3 hours to blend it and powder your face.

See, I'm wearing it here. It looks alright. But man, it was hard work with all the blending and 'toilet breaks'.

WOULD I REPURCHASE?

To conclude, would I buy it again? Probably not. If you asked me a few weeks ago when I first bought it I'd have signed up for a lifetime subscription, but since using this I've heard that Bobbi Brown do shades more suited to Asian skin-tones.

And Bobbi Brown's formulations are are far superior to Glam-X, though with a bit of time who knows, Glam-X could improve the formulations.

Next in line to my foundation throne is Bobbi Brown. Come on Bobbi, I need you!

Any foundation horror stories? Been matched to the completely wrong shade my a 'make up artist'? Share the hate!

'Allo 'allo. Sorry it's taken me a while to post who the winner is. Thank you to everyone that entered. If it wasn...

'Allo 'allo.

Sorry it's taken me a while to post who the winner is.

Thank you to everyone that entered. If it wasn't you this time around, don't worry 'cause I am planning on doing more giveaways in the not so distant future. Hmm, might giveaway a bit of jewellery *makes mental note*

Why hello there! I took a lovely photo of some street I passed by earlier today: Despite it looking so bloody dreamy, it has been...

Why hello there! I took a lovely photo of some street I passed by earlier today:

Despite it looking so bloody dreamy, it has been oh so cold out there today. But I was determined not to let the chill ruin my plans for the day, oh no. Today I hit the town with a blend of black & nudes with my customary dash of bling. And you probably know full well by now I love my bling dearly. They are my little babies. I could never part from them.

ANYWAY.

Here's my outfit of the day:

Some serious posage near the recycling bins. Just doing my bit to help raise awareness..

Mmmm Chocolate...

Black Lace & Mesh Swing Vest - Topshop

Basic Long Nude Bodycon vest - Topshop

Cream Lace Cardigan - Topshop

Memory Almond Boots - Topshop

Black tights - Cheapo Primark

Turntable & Headphones necklace - Galibardy

Chocolate Slab two finger ring - Galibardy

Turquoise ToyWatch

That's right - I am a Topshop girl. I am not ashamed to admit it. My wardrobe consists of around 80% of Topshop gear. What I love about Topshop is that they have a high stock turnover, they are *gulp* always bang on trend, their designs are not tacky like Primark, and last but not least, the clothes are far from boring. And they have a good range of basic clothing.

Those of you that don't live in the UK, fear not! Topshop offer worldwide delivery. (I am in no way affiliated with Topshop, however, if they are reading this, HIRE ME BIATCH!.. 'kay, thx.).

For a couple of weeks I've been struggling with my jewellery storage. As I mentioned in a previous post, the hubby nailed a few nails i...

For a couple of weeks I've been struggling with my jewellery storage. As I mentioned in a previous post, the hubby nailed a few nails into the wall for my necklaces. And I dumped my rings into a shoe box, haha!

I've finally got my little mitts on a box where I can store my rings. I purchased it cheaply from eBay. You can fit around a 100 rings into the box..

"I think I'm gonna need a bigger box"

OK, so it holds 100 normal rings! Clearly I don't do normal when it comes to rings, or anything for that matter! But I digress! There are a few monster rings, two-finger rings, a ring from Cairo, a ring from Delhi, rings from the high street and even a three-finger ring in there somewhere!

I think I may need to purchase another ring box, I can't see myself not buying anymore rings. Gah, the addiction continues..

And as I got carried away with taking lots of snapshots, I've decided to stick them up in this post for you to have a little snoop into my collection. HUZZAH! :)

And there you have it!

How do you store your rings? What's your fave ring from my collection?

I am officially back! Firstly, I've got my photos back (Gave in to photobucket and paid the buggers for a pro account, meh) and I've got my laptop fixed. Wo0t!

Moving on!

Any of you suffer from whiteheads? I do. I had a serious outbreak of them on both my cheeks.

I cleansed, I exfoliated, I steamed, I swear, nothing worked. It didn't look so bad when I didn't have foundation on. But once I applied my usual foundation, you could see the bumps. Which really started to get on my t*ts.

So last week I paid my lovely doctor a visit. And believe me, he is lovely. ;) Haha.

I spoke of my woes. He nodded his head & prescribed Duac for me.

It's basically a gel which contains 5% benzoyl peroxide. I wasn't too keen on it, until the doctor told me it is different to regular over the counter Benzoyl Peroxide as it contained an anti biotic in it as well. Niiice.

He instructed me to apply a thin layer on my skin at night after cleansing. And to wear a good moisturiser during the day as the treatment will leave my skin looking and feeling dry.

I've used this for about a week now. By Thursday my skin started to peel, badly. I hated the way my skin looked. Especially with foundation on. So I purchased Olay's UV Fluid for normal/Oily skin which helped an awful lot.

So after a week, what did I think of it?

This gel looks promising. I'm halfway there, my skin looks noticeably less bumpy. Yes, I still do have quite a few bumps left, but I should wait a couple of weeks till I can say whether it gets rid of most of the whiteheads. And the Olay UV Fluid has definitely stopped me peeling like a snake!

I will be reporting back within the next few weeks to let you know how I get on.

Do you suffer from whiteheads? What do you use to treat them? Have you used this gel?

Hello, guys & gals. I'm am extremely frustrated at the moment. First of all, photobucket has decided to not allow me to show ...

Hello, guys & gals.

I'm am extremely frustrated at the moment. First of all, photobucket has decided to not allow me to show my pictures on this blog 'cause apparently I've gone over my 10gb of storage. Which is a load of b***ocks if you ask me. And for my pictures to come back, I need to pay for a pro account or wait till the end of the month, pffft. NO THANKS!

AND my laptop is buggered. I have a a software problem which I'm trying to sort out.

I will be making some big changes around here within the the next few days. I'll be having more guest bloggers, reviews, lotsh & lotsh of FOTDS, OOTDS & plenty of pictures!

Seeing as I can't put up any pictures, I've got my friend to write up her ins & outs. At the moment I can't be doing my ins and outs as there's waaayyy too many outs, hehe!

So over to, Viv!

"INS

1. Gold – from eyeliner to shoes, the colour brings glamour to the work place (Unless your Alesha Dixon – see Outs!)

2. True Blood – series two just starting but series three available for download. Great to drop into the fantasy world every now again especially for the ‘hot’ actors.
3. Twix Fino – not much to them but they are chocolaty goodness at its best. The wafer instead of biscuit brings a different snack taste and they don’t clog the mouth as they are so light.
4. Twitter – enuf said!!
OUTS

1. Alesha Dixon’s gold outfit on Help For Heroes Concert– did she get dressed in the dark? Or did she wear it for a bet?
2. People who love the sound of their own voice!
3. People who do not know enough about a subject but feel that they are justified in what they say and do. A good example is the nutter in America and his Quran burning threat! You should not judge many on the few.
4. The wet and windy weather – we will be building an ark soon if it carries on!!"

Helloooooo my lovelies! This week has been absolute manic for me. For those of you that follow me on Twitter will probably know why! ...

Helloooooo my lovelies!

This week has been absolute manic for me. For those of you that follow me on Twitter will probably know why!

Basically, I ordered my Eid clothes this week on Tuesday from Rupali, and opted for next day delivery as it could have been Eid on Thursday or Friday (It all depends on the new moon, if the moon came out on Wednesday, it would be Eid on Thursday). Anyway, whilst at work, I checked the status of my delivery, it said they attempted to deliver the clothes but no one was in so they returned it to the depot. So straight after work, I went to the depot to collect it. To my horror, the young lad at the depot said it was dropped off at ANOTHER depot and that depot is now shut!!

At the same time, my husband told me it was Eid t'moro! I totally freaked!! I got the bus to curry mile on Wilmslow Road and went into countless number of clothes stores to buy a backup outfit!

Then i got a call of mother dear telling me it's Eid on Friday and that the whole eid on Thursday thing was a hoax. Haha!

I thought everything was going to be okay after that. But the next day on Thursday, I got my outfit, but to my surprise, they sent the wrong colour!!! The colour they sent was this VILE green colour. I was so freaking pissed off! I then caught the next train to Bolton to get to one of Rupalis stores to exchange it for the colour I wanted, but surprise surprise, they didn't have any!!

My husband then rang their customer service line and ordered yet another sari and told them to send the right colour this time. It is pushing it a bit considering I would be receiving my clothes on the actual Eid day, haha! but yes, I finally got the right outfit on Eid.

PHEW.

Oh.what.a.day.

Anyhoos, when I received my outfit, it was love at first sight. But was confused as to how I should wear it. Yep, I bought a sari. And I'd never wore one in my entire life. Why do I do this to myself? Haha. Thank god for youtube "how to" videos! :b

OUTFIT

So yeah, lo' and behold, here it is!:

I heart it. Too much. The turquoise colour is SO ME. It has been my favorite colour since like forevaar. My sisters reckon Rupali is the Indian Primark as it's quite cheap and they use cheap material. But meh, I like it! :D

ACCESSORIES

I didn't bother going for typical Indian jewellery. I wanted to wear a full on Indian outfit but with my kinda accessories to add a bit of a Halima twist to it.

I bought this ring from Galibardy. It is just simply beautiful and truly a unique piece of jewellery.

I also sported my brand spanking new ToyWatch. And yep, it's in turquoise. I've found that ToyWatches are like Marmite. You either love them or hate them. In my case, I totally love it. It does have a cheap feel to it, but hey, it is a ToyWatch after all. :b

I also had a few faux gold bangles on, but meh, they're not THAT special. For reference, they were from none other than Topshop. :)

HAPPY MOMENT

Mother and I. Having a larrf. this is such a timeless picture that I had to put it into black &white. Love you, mummy!

All in all, it was a splendid day. We ate, ate, and ate. And that pretty much sums up the day. I'm certain that all the weight I lost during Ramadhan, I put it all back on Eid. :D

For now, I will leave you with these sweet kebabs made by my two nieces. Enjoy! :)

I was out and about in the Arndale Centre on Saturday. I took my normal stroll into Superdrug. Usually I walk out empty-handed unless I...

I was out and about in the Arndale Centre on Saturday. I took my normal stroll into Superdrug. Usually I walk out empty-handed unless I'm looking for a particular item. But out of the corner of my eye, something stole my attention...Me Me Me. They are a cosmetic brand only available in Superdrug. There's not much about them on t'internet which is quite strange! This brand do dupes of Benefit's popular products but at a fraction the price. Such as High Beam.Anyhoos, on Saturday, I couldn't help but notice that they had 4 new blushers out that looked suspiciously like Benefit's blushers. They cost £6.50 each, which was their introductory price. Think the normal RRP is around £7.50? but yeah, £6.50 is not bad at all, so I bought all 4! :D

Clockwise from top right: Bronze, Coral, Pink & Rouge.

The whole packaging looks just like Benefit's blushers with a nifty little mirror hidden away in the lid. :)

I was going to do a FOTD with the blushers on but I'm having such a bad skin day, or even week. I've had a horrible cluster of zits on my left cheek, didn't want to subject you guys to those vivid, grotesque images. Yuck. So in the mean time, swatches will have to do for now. :)

Pink - A gorgeous dolly pink shade with silver flecks in. When applied onto the cheeks it comes up as a pink sheen which is super flattering. It's definitely buildable without it getting the chalky effect.

Coral - Does what it says on the tin (or even box..). this is a peachy coral colour. Benefit's coralista is slightly more pink toned than this. I'm actually wearing this. A friend commented on how it complimented my olive skin tone beautifully. Get in!

Rouge -This is a beautiful coral-ish red. You need to apply this with a light hand to avoid that dreaded clown look. I'd probably sport this with winged top liner and neutral lips.

Bronze - This is one of my faves! I'm wearing Coral with this on top of my cheekbone. My skin looks GLOWY! This is more of a bronze highlighter. It's an incredibly shimmery taupe brown but won't make you look like a disco ball if you apply this with a light hand. The colour reminds me of the shimmery brown colour from the NARS Rajasthan duo.

So all in all, my conclusion of the blushers:

Incredibly pigmented.

Pink is definitely buildable. whilst with the others, you will need to go easy on the application to avoid looking 'too done'.

All blushers are infused with sparkles but won't make you look crazily glittery but more shimmery.

Does not have that dreaded chalky texture.

Priced under £10. In my opinion, BARGAIN!

The brushes are useless. I could never apply a blusher without a rounded brush. Instead I applied this with my NARS 06 Blush brush (LOVE this brush, it's oh so soft.)

Staying power is average. At the end of a working day, it was faded but the blush was still noticeable. Yay!

These blushers have definitely made an impression on me. I will be venturing out into the world of ME ME ME again in the not so distant future.

Have you tried any of these blushers? Do you know much about the company's background? And just out of curiosity, are they available anywhere else in the world?

To some, I am known as: "The Girl with the Fabulous Jewellery". OK, I lie. Nobody calls me that! But if I had a pound for every t...

To some, I am known as: "The Girl with the Fabulous Jewellery". OK, I lie. Nobody calls me that! But if I had a pound for every time a randomer on the street stopped me to comment on or ask whereI got my jewellery from I'd have a lot more money than I do now!

Being honest, the collection of Jewellery I've built up over the last 12 months is pretty amazing! I never get bored of the stuff I have and I'm constantly on the look-out for new pieces to add.

Anyway.

This haul is a couple of pieces I've picked up in the past few weeks. And there won't be too many words in this post either, the pictures speak for themselves! :)

GALIBARDY

They sell some of the most stunning pieces of jewellery I have ever seen. And the prices are not bad either.

PARIS necklace! This cost me around £10? Which is not not bad at all. I can imagine if this was in Topshop, they would probably charge around £15 for it IMO. I love how it's clustered famous landmarks of this beautiful city onto one necklace. It is absolutely stunning!

My BOOM BOX! Another necklace. Think this cost around £10 as well. I love the cute little headphones with it.

Can you tell what this is? Yep, it's a hot air balloon necklace. How adorable is the little teddy sat in the basket with little hearts all around the basket?

This globe necklace is also HUGE! It's got the peace sign hanging off it. Love the detailing on this. Well, all of Galibardy's jewellery is incredibly detailed. Yay!

This mix tape necklace is also another stunner and cost around £10.

Seriously, words just cannot describe how much I love the ring and necklaces. They're all very well detailed and don't look like any of those shabby ornament necklaces you get with very little detail on.

If you're lemming for some of these pieces but don't live anywhere near London, fear not! They have an online store. HUZZAH! :)

TOPSHOP

My jewellery haul cannot be complete without a few bits from Topshop, oh no.

Scissor necklace. I've been looking for a necklace like this for a while now. Trust Topshop to read my mind, go ahead and manufacture it. ;)

My love affair with two-finger rings is on the rocks. Why? Put quite simply, I've moved on. I actually found a 3 finger ring! And it's encrusted with diamantes for that extra 'blingyness'.

And last but not least..

MISS SELFRIDGE

Fate brought me and this beauty together. I say fate, because I never usually give Miss Selfridge a second glance as I walk past it on the high street. But for whatever reason, on this particular day I wandered in and struck (fake) gold when I found this...

A real hourglass! Attached onto a long gold chain.

And there you have it!

I did buy a few more rings and necklaces but they appear to have gone AWOL. I kid you not. My jewellery collection has got a bit of out hand. I've started finding rings under the bed, necklaces in the bathroom, earrings in the kitchen and so on! I just have wayy too much! It started to get me a bit down that all my jewellery was just lying around as I've ran out of storage space.

My hubby nailed a few nails into the wall for me to hang my necklaces off. And I just recently ordered a ring holder online which has a 100 slots. Phew. Hopefully this will help organise my life (or rings at least). Until I buy my 101st ring that is...